Men Who Batter Overestimate Rate At Which Men Abuse

There is new research which looks at the link between men's violence toward women and their assumptions about how common that violence really is.

U. WASHINGTON (US)—Men who engage in domestic violence consistently overestimate how common such behavior is, and the more they overestimate, the more they engage in abusing their partner.

“We don’t know why men make these overestimations, but there are a couple of likely reasons,” says Clayton Neighbors, an affiliate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington and a professor of psychology at the University of Houston.

Since exposure to violence is a risk factor for violence, the behavior of role models and peers may lead to the statistical difference between these men's assumptions and the National Violence Against Women Survey findings. The story about this research doesn't include whether these men were also surveyed about how much violence they have witnessed.

If men witnessed or knew about partner sexual assault which these offenders estimated at being committed by 23.6% of men and also witnessed people siding with violent men because of victim blaming that would help create the norm where violence was common but not something for which the violent man should be accountable for.

I'm glad this research into offender behavior and beliefs is being done and want to see more of so we can use the results to improve primary prevention.